| FT tank of the 501e Régiment de Chars de Combat, in support of the 46e Division d’Infanterie patrolling Poststraße in Kattowitz [Katowice in Polish]. The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on March 20, 1921, to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. There were 3 Polish uprisings, and German volunteer paramilitary units came to the region as well. The area was policed by French, British, and Italian troops, and overseen by an Inter-Allied Commission. The Allies planned a partition of the region, but a Polish insurgency took control of over half the area. The Germans responded with volunteer paramilitary units from all over Germany, which fought the Polish units. In the end, after renewed Allied military intervention, the final position of the opposing forces became, roughly, the new border. The decision was handed over to the League of Nations, which confirmed this border, and Poland received roughly 1/3 of the plebiscite zone by area, including the greater part of the industrial region.” German Jewish businessman Leo Böhm (August 30, 1876 – September 23, 1942) born in Antonienhuette (Wirek), Katowitz, when it was part of Germany. Böhm was departed to the Theresienstadt Ghetto on July 27, 1942. He was murdered during Action Reinhard at Treblinka. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2211.jpg |
| Image Size | 6.72 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 7706 x 5597 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Le Petit journal illustré |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 1, 1921 |
| Location | |
| City | Kattowitz |
| State or Province | Silesia |
| Country | Poland |
| Archive | Bibliothèque Nationale de France |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database